Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman updates the injury status of DB Thomas Harper
The bad news for the No. 10 Irish began about 1.5 hours before kickoff against Louisville on Saturday night when the Notre Dame Football communications team announced defensive back Thomas Harper was unavailable to play against No. 25 Louisville. After the 33-20 loss to the Cardinals, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said postgame that Harper was out with a concussion.
“He’s in concussion protocol,” Freeman told reporters afterward. “He wasn’t ready to return to play. … Obviously, you do not want to lose a great player like Thomas Harper, but (we) expect him to be back next week.”
Last week, Harper started at nickel/slot cornerback and played 52 of 70 snaps in Notre Dame’s 21-14 victory over Duke on Sept. 30. He recorded five tackles, including three solo. Pro Football Focus graded Harper as the team’s best run tackler and run defender in Week 5.
The 5-foot-10 5/8, 195-pound graduate student has 25 tackles (10 solo), 2 tackles for loss and 1 sack in six games for the Irish. He’s also added a pair of pass breakups and a forced fumble.
Irish senior cornerback Clarence Lewis replaced Harper as the team’s third cornerback. Lewis had a pass breakup that nearly resulted in an interception.
“C-Lew did a good job of stepping in there,” Freeman said.
Freeman also mentioned that graduate student cornerback Cam Hart also took some nickel reps. Hart registered two tackles and a forced fumble.
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Freeman did not provide an update on junior defensive lineman Gabriel Rubio’s unavailability. Notre Dame Football’s communications team also revealed Rubio was unavailable to play against Louisville.
He previously Weeks 1-3 after sustaining a knee injury in Notre Dame’s Week 0 victory over Navy. That injury required arthroscopic knee surgery. It is unknown if that injury held him out of Saturday night’s game against the Cardinals.
Rubio played 16 snaps and had two tackles against the Blue Devils. The 6-5 1/4, 306-pounder has four tackles (two solo) in three games this season.
Notre Dame will look to get back to full strength next Saturday when Southern California comes to town. The Irish have defeated the Trojans the last five times they have faced each other in Notre Dame Stadium. Last year, USC defeated Notre Dame 38-27 in Los Angeles. Kickoff for the 2023 edition of the rivalry clash is at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
The Irish are 2-1 and have outscored opponents 111-37 at home this season.
